Milk is an important staple in many countries, not merely as a drink but as an ingredient in other dishes and meals. As a food source, it provides calcium, protein, energy and several other nutrients that the body requires. Combining sugar with milk adds to the latter's food value and is a tradition in the cuisine of many nations. Modern innovation now offers dulce de leche in a can, making this traditional snack available as an easy-to-use option.
For the uninitiated, dulce de leche is a customary sweetened milk dish usually associated with South America, where it is common is several countries. Dulce means sweet, and it has this name because it uses sugar mixed with milk, which is then heated to make the finished item more solid in texture. Other elements, such as spice or flavorings, are also added.
Heating milk involves certain safety considerations. If the temperature is too high, the milk will catch or burn on the base of the pot. Once milk is heated, it forms a skin or coagulated layer at its surface as it loses temperature. One should heat the milk carefully, at a low temperature, while stirring it, and all at once.
Some people make dulce de leche by boiling a sealed tin of condensed milk in water. Commercial condensed milk products are usually already sweetened, so the convenience of this method is obvious. However, this is also hazardous because the tin is airtight, and a raised temperature causes its contents to expand. If the pot is abandoned on the stove, the water will boil off and the exposed tin will explode. It may not start a fire but the clean-up job will be extensive. And, of course, this method should never be attempted in a microwave oven.
The dish is open to individual experiments with flavor or other ingredients. Milk is easy to work with, and offers ample opportunity for indigenous adaptation. There is seemingly no limit to what one can add to it. Anything that goes with milk as a drink will potentially work in this dish too. As an example, look at any milkshake menu for ideas.
It can also be used in other dishes. Custard, ice-cream or cream are typically served with desserts, but because dulce de leche is so similar to them, both in ingredients and texture, it has the same potential applications. It can also be served after the meal as a stand-alone item. Some people use it in their baking.
The Indian version is known as basundi. This is made using the same technique and is subject to various regional refinements such as pistachio nuts, cheese or fruit. As with all Indian cooking, it is also made using a host of different spices.
The universal occurrence of this dish is an example of peoples' common affinity with dairy and milk. Anything based on the latter can thus be used to cater for diverse cultural occasions, because no culture or religion rejects it. Vegetarians, too, are allowed to consume it. The dish is an internationally marketable food item. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy associated sugared milk with family love and domestic bliss, a sentiment with which people in many other countries may agree.
For the uninitiated, dulce de leche is a customary sweetened milk dish usually associated with South America, where it is common is several countries. Dulce means sweet, and it has this name because it uses sugar mixed with milk, which is then heated to make the finished item more solid in texture. Other elements, such as spice or flavorings, are also added.
Heating milk involves certain safety considerations. If the temperature is too high, the milk will catch or burn on the base of the pot. Once milk is heated, it forms a skin or coagulated layer at its surface as it loses temperature. One should heat the milk carefully, at a low temperature, while stirring it, and all at once.
Some people make dulce de leche by boiling a sealed tin of condensed milk in water. Commercial condensed milk products are usually already sweetened, so the convenience of this method is obvious. However, this is also hazardous because the tin is airtight, and a raised temperature causes its contents to expand. If the pot is abandoned on the stove, the water will boil off and the exposed tin will explode. It may not start a fire but the clean-up job will be extensive. And, of course, this method should never be attempted in a microwave oven.
The dish is open to individual experiments with flavor or other ingredients. Milk is easy to work with, and offers ample opportunity for indigenous adaptation. There is seemingly no limit to what one can add to it. Anything that goes with milk as a drink will potentially work in this dish too. As an example, look at any milkshake menu for ideas.
It can also be used in other dishes. Custard, ice-cream or cream are typically served with desserts, but because dulce de leche is so similar to them, both in ingredients and texture, it has the same potential applications. It can also be served after the meal as a stand-alone item. Some people use it in their baking.
The Indian version is known as basundi. This is made using the same technique and is subject to various regional refinements such as pistachio nuts, cheese or fruit. As with all Indian cooking, it is also made using a host of different spices.
The universal occurrence of this dish is an example of peoples' common affinity with dairy and milk. Anything based on the latter can thus be used to cater for diverse cultural occasions, because no culture or religion rejects it. Vegetarians, too, are allowed to consume it. The dish is an internationally marketable food item. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy associated sugared milk with family love and domestic bliss, a sentiment with which people in many other countries may agree.
